Exiled (18 page)

James and Kilani ran down the narrow tunnel. Ahead of them a pink orb hovered, lighting the way.

“James, please tell me what’s going on?” Kilani asked. “We must hurry, our friends are in trouble.”

“What are you talking about?” she asked as they rounded a bend and began up a steep set of stairs.

“Darkness will fall and they’re stranded on the first widow. If we don’t hurry there won’t be anything for us to find,” James replied, increasing the pace as they reached the top of the stairs and continued down another tunnel.

“What do you mean? Total darkness won’t come for another month.”

James stopped and turned to her. “It is coming tonight,” he said and then continued down the tunnel.

The twisting and turning continued for some time. Somehow, James appeared to know exactly which tunnels to take and before long they reached the open air. The sun had fallen behind the trees in the jungle.

“This way,” James said, taking off at a run once again. The noise in the jungle was deafening. Sounds Kilani had never heard before came from animals screaming at the impending darkness.

The pair burst through the dense foliage at the jungle’s edge and onto the beach. Several small creatures that resembled a cross between a crab and an otter scattered into the sea as the pair ran across the sand toward the boat. As they rounded the northern point of the second widow, Kilani came to a dead stop. On the horizon was a blood red moon. James looked over his shoulder and stopped. He walked back to Kilani who stood staring at the moon.

“We must keep moving,” he said.

“What’s happening?” she asked.

“I’ll explain everything when we get back to the boat. Please Kilani, time is of the essence,” he pleaded. Kilani nodded and they took off at a run again, still energized and from the water they drank several hours before. In minutes they reached the boat. Kilani glanced over her shoulder as they pushed the boat into the water. The moon, which had risen entirely above the western horizon, was etched with black striations, making it appear alive, an organ wrenched from the body of The Never and thrust into the sky. As Kilani stared at it, she thought she could hear the beating of a heart. The sound of her name being shouted at her brought her back to the present.

“Hold on, Kilani,” James said.

“
Tertiri zé Manukto ahlnãs Svartbek
,” James said, his hands extended over the water. The boat turned quickly and began moving to the south. Kilani noticed the oars were still sitting at the bottom of the boat. She looked at James, who was staring into the distance. His face was illuminated on one side by the blood red moon, giving him the appearance of a man wearing a mask. It frightened her enough to look away.

“What happened to you back there?” she asked, looking at her hands.

“I touched the tower.”

“Why?”

“It called to me,” he replied.

“What did?” Kilani asked.

“The castle. When I touched it, she shared with me the language of this land. Somehow, I understood. Somehow, I always knew.”

A smile came across her face, and she looked up at James.

Despite his still eerie appearance she was able to look into his eyes. Excitement returned. Hope returned. “You are the one,” she said.

He looked at her, but said nothing. The water receded beneath the boat as it glided gently onto the beach. Kilani could see the silhouette of the
Queen Mary
in front of the rising moon as they jumped out of the boat.

“They’re not here,” she said.

James extended his hand. Three green light orbs rose from his palm. He sent them high into the air where they exploded like fireworks. They heard a shout from down the beach and saw someone running toward them. Whoever it was, was screaming.

“Let’s go,” James said.

They ran toward the screaming man. James sent his pink light orb out in front of them. Its brightness intensified as it went until they could see the man’s face. It was William. He was breathless and panicked.

“Roger, ze been bitten. Zey ere trapped en ze jungle by monsters.”

“What monsters?” Kilani asked.

“Ee’ve never seen anyting leeke eet. Eye saw ligzts an came ran ere.”

A strong wind blew up the beach and William let out a cry. “’Ell an’ zee div-eil!” he screamed. Kilani and James turned.

Clouds were dancing in front of the moon. They weren’t substantial enough to block it completely, but James knew it was only a matter of minutes before complete darkness fell. 

“We must hurry,” James said, taking off at a run down the beach. William and Kilani followed closely. James saw the faint tracks William had left where he stepped out of the jungle onto the sand. He stopped. The noise from the jungle was deafening.

James held both hands, palm up just in front of his body. Thousands of sand grain–sized orbs of glowing light rose from them like stars. They rose above their heads where they hung for a moment before rapidly moving into the jungle.

“
Tertiri zé Manukto kãmã
,” James said. Each tiny orb grew in size and intensity, lighting the jungle beneath them. The noise fell silent. Thick dark clouds blew across the sky and finally blocked the last of the red light. The Never had fallen dark. James stepped into the jungle. Kilani and William exchanged nervous glances and followed closely. As he walked, James once again sent three green orbs high into the air where they exploded like fireworks one after the other.

“Not much furzer zere is a bamboo grove,” William said.

“Zey’re just beyond it.”

Each of James’s light orbs hung just below the canopy, like lanterns burning so brightly that they left no shadows. Kilani marveled at this feat. 

The group reached the first stalks of bamboo, which were thicker than any James had seen during his travels back in his world. Rather than green, the chutes were midnight black. 

They moved around the perimeter of the tightly knit plants that would not allow passage by anything but the smallest of jungle creatures. William looked nervously into the bamboo thicket as they passed. Despite the power of the orbs, it seemed no light could penetrate this bamboo forest.

“Juzst aeead,” William whispered.

They reached the end of the bamboo grove and James came to a stop. In front of him stood the strangest creature he’d ever seen. It had its back to him and paid none of the three any notice. The creature stood on two long legs, balanced by long toes. It had four arms, each equally spaced and equal in length with extremely long fingers, which were clenched. A shell extended down the creature’s back, stopping just over its waist. A pair of wings were folded over the top of the shell. The shell fanned at the top blocking the view of the creature’s head. Dozens of other jungle creatures, each stranger than the next, also stood immobile, almost touching each other. It was as if the light had frozen them in place. In the center of the circle of creatures stood Luno and Roger. Roger’s arm was over Luno’s shoulder for support.

James whispered, “Apotëket,” and the creatures directly in front of him moved aside slowly. The movement immediately drew Luno’s attention, who stared gape-jawed at James as he walked toward them. Roger’s leg, if it could be called a leg at this point, was torn to pieces. He was pale as a ghost from blood loss. James put his hand on Roger’s hip and said, “
Tertiri 
zé Manukto tupasarri
.”

Roger, who had been too delirious to realize what was going on, refocused. His injured leg began healing itself rapidly. Luno looked from the healing leg to James and then back to the leg with an expression of disbelief. He began to speak, but James interrupted him.

“We need to leave this place. The lights will only keep away some of the creatures. The ones it won’t are truly the ones we don’t want to meet. Roger, can you walk?” James asked. Roger hesitantly put his foot on the ground and slowly shifted his weight onto it. “Aye, Capin’,” he said as he took his first few steps, “b’lieve I can.”

“
Tertiri zé Manukto Svartbek ahlnãs
,” James said, extending his hands.

The leaves of the surrounding plants began to sway. Globules of water from the leaves began to combine and hover toward James.

“
Tertiri zé Manukto hilosaari
.”

The water glowed blue for a moment then back to clear. “Cup your hands and drink. The water is safe,” James said, sending the water directly in front of Roger who hesitantly cupped his hands. The water fell into them and he drank greedily tossing all doubt aside. Immediately, he was reenergized and his color returned. Not far away a low guttural growl broke the silence. Many of the smaller creatures ran off into the darkness beyond the light from James’s orbs.

Quickly, the group retraced its steps past the circle of larger creatures, which were still stuck in some type of trance, and back toward the bamboo grove. They heard the growl again this time it came from beside them rather than behind. As they moved out of the jungle, James’s light orbs moved with them leaving darkness in their wake.

The group reached the far edge of the bamboo forest and now only had a short stretch of jungle before the beach. Once again the growl interrupted the silence. The powerful bass sent tremors through their chests. Finally, the group stepped out onto the sand. As soon as Kilani, who took up the rear of the group, stepped out of the jungle, James turned and began moving down the beach toward the boat. 

When it struck him, James didn’t see it coming. A black shape lunged out of the jungle hitting him in the side. The force of the impact sent both him and his attacker hurtling through the air and into the water. The light orbs immediately fell dark. The weight of the creature was stunning. James felt as if a giant rock had dropped on top of him. Both he and the creature flailed in the water. The long claws released from his chest and back as they both submerged. James pushed for the surface, for air. Although he felt his head break the water and air rush into his lungs, the same blackness that had encircled him when the monster brought him under the water remained. He was disoriented. Not sure which way was land and which way would take him further out to sea.

He heard two things as the water drained from his ears: the screams of his group coming from behind him and the sound of the creature breaking the surface of the water. This sound was much closer. James lifted a hand above the surface of the water. 

“
Tertiri zé Manukto vinka
.” Light orbs rose into the air from his palm. He immediately saw the midnight black skin of his attacker as it swam toward him. Its eyes glowed red from the reflecting light.

The head of the creature looked very much like a big cat from his world. Rather than fur, the skin appeared to be almost rubber. James knew he had seconds before the creature was on him. “
Inarjavai
,” James said.

His shield went up just before the creature’s giant paw took a swipe at him. James quickly began to swim toward the shore.

The creature pursued. As soon as he reached a depth that allowed him to walk he cast another incantation. The water parted between him and the shore, allowing him to run at full speed. The parted water immediately crashed together behind him, preventing the creature from keeping pace. 

The moment he made landfall, his crew was at his side. “Stay back,” he said.

The creature cautiously made its way onto the beach not taking its eyes off the group. It bellowed, revealing thousands of needle-like teeth inside its terrible maw. James turned his palms downward, saying an incantation as he did. A line of sand rose from the beach in a wall just in front of the creature. It jumped back but was met by another wall of sand behind it. It jumped upward in an attempt to come over the barrier and again was rejected by what was now a cage. The sand rippled as the grains danced along the barriers but held strong when the creature attacked. It let out a terrible roar as it fought to get out. 

“Let’s go! We don’t have much time,” James said.

The group moved quickly down the beach. All but James gave the encaged creature a wide berth as they passed. James stopped in front of the cage and said “
Apotëket
.” It immediately stopped fighting and sat on its haunches like an obedient dog. 

As they continued toward the boat, the clouds covering the moon blew clear, again revealing the blood-red color. Both Roger and Luno let out gasps at the sight of it. Now much higher in the sky, the moon cast shadows from its intensity. They rowed back to the
Queen Mary
in silence.
Luno must 
have more than his fair share of questions
, James thought. 

Luno sat silently staring at James, who rowed. Once they reached the
Queen Mary
and all were safely aboard, William broke the

silence. “A bleeding disaster, no?” 

“I think not,” Luno replied. “Think of all we have learned. I am curious as to your story, James and Kilani, and how you’ve come to your newfound abilities,” Luno said, his eyes boring into James.

James retold the story of how they ended up in the cave. When he reached the part about the stone tower, Kilani, whose mind had been elsewhere, paid close attention.